Re-examining the Use of Force Continuum: Why Resistance is Not the Only Driver of Use of Force Decisions

Description

Policing research and use of force policies have been guided by the continuum model for the past several decades. The continuum specifies a relationship between the amount of resistance a suspect presents and the amount of force that an officer should use to respond to or overcome a given level of resistance. In this paper, we show that resistance alone is an insufficient indicator of the necessity and level of force to be used both conceptually and empirically. We argue for the inclusion of considerations of perceived threat in the analysis of use of force incidents—both in policy and in research. Our analysis also reiterates the importance of police culture in understanding use of force decisions.

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Publisher

figshare SAGE Publications

DOI

10.25384/sage.c.5777316.v1

Document Type

Data Set

Identifier

10.25384/sage.c.5777316.v1

Embargo Date

1-1-2022

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